Dreadwood
by xxphoenixfallenxx
Summary: Legend claims there is a house that can hide you from anything. That once inside, not even the eyes of God can find you. It's exactly what Sam and Dean need. But there's a deadly catch to staying in this house. Will the Winchesters be able to survive? Dean, Sam, O.C. Supernatural A.U.


**Hello All. I want to repeat that this is an AU within the Supernatural universe, so there may be some inaccuracies with the real Supernatural story/plot/timeline. Just roll with it loves. Hope it does not disappoint :) -E  
**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, or any characters within. I do however own the idea for this story, along with my OC.

The road was getting worse by the minute. Winter had begun, and though the first snow had melted, the ground was frozen solid, and there were plenty of bumps and holes Dean had to navigate around. Eventually the road narrowed, and became a 4x4 trail covered in weeds. Dean pushed Baby as far as he dared. When they couldn't go anymore, they unpacked the car, and Sam helped cover Baby with a camouflage tarp and some branches. They looked further down the trail, which seemed to narrow into a single deer path strangled by trees.

"Are you sure this is it?" Dean asked, glancing around.

Sam carefully unfolded the yellowing scrap of paper.

"Yeah. It's just a few more miles in." Sam replied, turning the faded map around for Dean to see.

Dean sighed, readjusting his backpack. They had a lot to carry, but from what he'd read, this place was worth it. He had to keep Sam safe. Had to save himself. They followed the trail until they reached where the map indicated they'd find the house. Nothing. The path kept going off into the increasingly dense forest.

"Dean... this is... this is weird." Sam mumbled, looking at their modern map and then at the yellowed paper.

Dean looked over Sam's shoulder, where he was holding the yellowed map up to the new one.

"What the... oh great! We're in the goddamn Bermuda Triangle."

The nature preserve they were in was only about 15 miles wide. They'd easily gone further than that. They should have come across a lake by now, if they'd gone as far as they should have.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean yelled, kicking a rock off into the woods.

They wouldn't make it back to the Impala before it got dark. Sam wordlessly put his things down and went off to gather firewood while Dean started putting up the tent.

He knew it. He knew it was too good to be true. This house was the last hope Dean had. Nowhere they went was safe. The angels were always finding them. The demons were always finding them. They needed to find a way out. Sammy looked like he hadn't slept for a few days. Neither had Dean.

Sam got the fire going, and the two sat in silence, warming up. Sam had the maps out across his lap, triple checking everything. Measuring every mile. Pulling out his compass again. Far off in the woods, a lone howl pierced through the silence.

"It doesn't make sense." Sam growled, slapping the maps down.  
"No use trying to figure it out now. We'll head back out in the morning." Dean grunted.

Sam sighed, and after a short time he got up and went into the tent. Dean listened to him struggle into the slightly too small sleeping bag, and then he lie there silently. Dean knew he was still thinking about the maps. Hopefully he'd try to sleep. Dean quietly took out the small bottle of whiskey he kept in his coat pocket, right next to the bottle of holy water. He took a long swig, and then put the bottle down. He figured he might as well test the Triangle theory. Closing his eyes, he took a few breaths, focusing.

"Cas, you out there?... Can you hear me?" He murmured quietly.

He waited a few moments and tried again. After a few tries, he sat silently, confused. Sam poked his head out of the tent.

"Anything?" He asked.  
"Nope."  
"Huh..."

A twig snapped, and the Winchester's eyes snapped across the fire to the other side of the campsite. In the shadows a figure froze.

"Hey!" Dean burst out, flying to his feet.

The figure fled immediately, abandoning being quiet for light steps that sped away. Dean looked to Sam, who had already climbed out of the tent. Picking up his gun, they ran off into the dark. The boys instantly fell into hunting mode. The person was on the small side. Small, and fast. Without a word they spread out, Dean silently moving as Sam noisily went off to the side. Sam would drive whoever it was right to Dean. A few moments later and Dean was ready. Sam was increasing the pressure on the person, driving them faster, adding stress. Then Dean made his move as the person ran past. He tackled them, hard.

The person was a lot smaller than he had anticipated, and they smashed onto the hard ground. A brief struggle later and Dean had the person pinned on their back, using his weight to hold them still. Dean pressed the gun up under their jaw, and the person stopped struggling instantly. Sam caught up, panting slightly, and clicked on his flashlight.

"Oh." He breathed softly, shocked.

A girl stared up at Dean, eyes blinking back tears from the bright light. There was a nasty gash on her forehead and her lip was split from being tackled. She glared through the light at Sam, then looked back at Dean.

"Well?" She spoke quietly, almost growled.  
"Who are you, and what are you doing out here?" Dean demanded.

At this, she cocked an eyebrow, looking entirely bewildered. She glanced back and forth between them a few times.

"You're serious?" She asked. When she didn't get an answer, she became somewhat agitated. "So which is it, me or the house?" She questioned.  
"You know about the house?" Sam asked.  
"Yeah, I've been hiding there for almost a year now. I take it you're looking for the house then?"  
"Is it safe? Can you take us there?" Dean questioned, gripping her jaw to regain her attention.

"Yes, it's safe. Now are you gonna let go of me?" She snapped, jerking her face away from his hand.  
"Sammy, test her." Dean said, re-gripping her jaw to hold her still.

Her eyes widened as Sam pulled out his knife. He began the exorcising chant as he crouched down beside her, grabbing her arm and rolling up the sleeve of her torn up hoodie. She tried to pull away but he was too strong. She flinched as he quickly made a cut on her forearm. As he held her now bleeding arm, he reached into Dean's jacket pocket and pulled out the holy water. He splashed a bit onto the exposed skin of her arm. Moving forward, he beamed the flashlight into her arms, pulling one eyelid up slightly as she squinted against the light.

"She's good." He commented after a moment.  
"If I let you up, you gonna behave?" Dean questioned.

She rolled her eyes at him, and after a moment, he slowly got off her. She sat up, holding a hand tenderly to the bleeding gash on her forehead and groaned. With her other hand she hesitantly touched a finger to her lip and winced.  
"Sorry about that." Dean commented lightly, and pulled a scrap cloth out of his pocket and offered it to her.

She held it to her head, and carefully got to her feet.  
"So what are you running from?" She asked, looking at both of them.  
A guarded look slammed onto Dean's face, and Sam silently looked at his brother.  
"Ok, ok." She said quickly, holding her hands up. "Don't tell me. As long as you have no intentions of harming me the house will let you in. Now, I'm sure you'd rather sleep in a warm house than your silly tent. Correct?"

Sam looked at Dean, raising an eyebrow slightly. Dean turned to her.  
"You got food and beds?" He asked.  
"Yes, and hot water." She added, smiling slightly.  
"Well, I say let's go. What about you Sam?" He asked.

Sam nodded. She lead them with ease back to their campsite, and watched wordlessly as they packed up everything. When ready, she turned to lead them away down the trail they'd been following.

"Hang on a second." Sam said suddenly.  
She glanced over her shoulder at them, raising an eyebrow.

"What's your name?" He asked.  
She paused for a moment, her amber eyes sparking in the firelight. She tossed her red hair over her shoulder. "Ridley. And you boys are Sam and Dean. Nice to meet you. Now let's get going. The wolves move through here soon, and they do not like anyone on their turf at night."

They walked away in silence. Dean looked over his shoulder at Sam, and silently worded "Ridley?" with his teasing grin. Sam smirked, and they continued moving into the dark.

**Reviews please! :)**


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